In our hyper meme-ified world, there’s rarely a motivational or inspirational saying that doesn’t end up in our Facebook feed. Here’s a sampling of some of the classics:

To be a champ, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will.

Nothing worth having comes easy.

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Today I will do what others won’t so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.

You might even have some of these sayings framed on your wall with the accompanying photo of an eagle soaring across a cloud-smattered sky. And we don’t blame you. After fighting your way through morning traffic, spilling coffee on your new tie and realizing you forgot your phone, you need a little inspiration. Or is it motivation?

While the concepts of inspiration and motivation might seem interchangeable, the two words have very distinct meanings. That meaning may not be important to the average person, but understanding the nuances between the two words isn’t just about semantics; it’s about understanding the relationship between what you want to accomplish and how you get your team to accomplish it.

Motivation is Something That Comes from Within

Have you ever met someone who was truly motivated? What did you notice about them? One thing probably stood out to you – their seemingly endless well of determination and belief in their goals. Both of those factors come from within a person. You look inward to find the idea catalyst to drive your outward life.

This past August, the world converged on Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The men’s marathon took place on the final day of competition. Galen Rupp, Jared Ward and Meb Keflezighi represented the United States in the race.

Keflezighi had won silver several Olympics ago and was the only runner in the group with a medal. The day was rainy and wet. The runners took off and after a few miles it was obvious that something was off about the normally steady Keflezighi.

About halfway through the race he threw up, and then he did it six more times. Somehow, he finished the race in 33rd place. Rupp won bronze and Ward finished sixth.

As Keflezighi approached the finish line, he slipped and fell on the wet road. Before standing back up, he pounded out a few push-ups, got to his feet and crossed the finish line amid the cheers of a boisterous crowd.

After the race, the veteran runner explained what happened.

“About halfway through, I threw up. I think I did it seven times during the race. But you know what? There are no excuses. This is the best of the best,” he said.

Meb’s race was the perfect example of motivation instead of inspiration. He wasn’t looking to something outside himself to push him to the finish. He didn’t wait for another runner to come and console him in order to get to the finish line.

He knew the stakes of the race, he knew his body’s limits and he knew he had to finish the race at all costs. That is a prime example of motivation. His strength came from within.

Think about that in relation to your workplace. Sometimes reward systems are great for motivating employees, but in our current workplace environment, employees tend to value space – breathing room to build relationships, let their creativity flow and gain a certain level of meaning and significance from what they’re doing.

There’s a scene in Ron Howard’s epic movie Cinderella Man where the protagonist, tough-as-nails New Jersey boxer Jim Braddock, is fighting his way to a title bout when he meets his match in a younger, stronger boxer.

In the middle of the bout, his opponent unleashes a monstrous right that catches Braddock flush on the face. The crowd rises up in shock; they can’t believe Braddock is going to fall to the mat.

A strange thing happens, though. Braddock doesn’t fall, although his mouthpiece tumbles across the floor and comes to rest amid the chaos.

The grisly fighter has flashbacks to the effects of the Great Depression: his hungry kids, an empty milk rack, and, finally, the image of an empty house after his wife is forced to send their kids to a relative’s house because the Braddocks can’t afford to pay their electricity bill.

Here’s the clip:

This is a classic example of inspiration – Braddock looked to his family’s worst times to push him to stay on his feet, keep fighting and earn a paycheck. The bout went on and, as history has it, Braddock won and continued on his journey to become the heavyweight champion.

Conclusions: Why Traditional Methods Need to Be Changed

Earlier we mentioned that today’s workforce is more concerned about value and significance than ever before. In many cases, trying traditional methods of motivation and inspiration don’t work like they did a decade or two ago.

In fact, you could even make the case that incentive programs are archaic in the sense that they’re used as motivational tools when they’re actually, by definition, inspirational tools. They’re an outside force that spurs on the individual or team.

So, take a moment to think about what your employees really need from you. How can you inspire them to greatness? In many cases, sharing your own personal battles with success and leadership can be a huge help. Transparency is of great value these days; respect is earned through relationship, not through reverence.

While it is almost the end of summer, it’s never too late to start catching up on a good read. Most people tend to stick to the usual genres: romance, suspense, cops and robbers or classical works.

We’re going to take a look at some business-minded books, however, the kind of stuff that’s interesting to read and highly applicable to your work life.

These books are aimed at identifying gaps in workflow management between teams as well as individuals, while also encouraging workers to identify their strengths and weaknesses to help improve their personal development and overall work environment.

Learning your team’s dynamic is essential to building a cohesive and productive unit. However, it usually takes time to figure out what makes each person tick as well as what will motivate them to perform at their full potential.

The question then becomes, “What methods or best practices are available to help determine how to overcome dysfunction.”

Written as a business fable, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, aims to address why teams become dysfunctional as well as how to acknowledge flaws and inadequacies in order to create a purposeful work environment.

Lencioni establishes that there are five main “dysfunctions” that lead to an unproductive group dynamic:

Absence of trust

Fear of conflict

Lack of commitment

Avoidance of accountability

Inattention to results of the collective

Lencioni explains that when teams strive to understand and accept their inadequacies they can conquer any internal or external strife they may face.

Figuring out where your talents lie can be a difficult task, to say the least. However, there are some great tools out there to help people and companies identify what their aptitudes are and how to best utilize them.

Discover Your Strengths is a Hall of Famer among books in this genre. The authors’ main goal is to help each person discover their strengths through an online or written test.

In contrast to The Five Dysfunctions of a Teams, Buckingham and Clifton encourage their readers to focus primarily on the strengths one has rather than struggle to conquer one’s own weaknesses.

Buckingham and Clifton argue that when group members focus on their strengths, they can position themselves into roles and tasks they know they would be well-suited for.

In essence, the desired end result would be developing desired attributes in each member to improve overall team efficiency while also minimizing employee turnover.

In The Leadership Challenge, authors James Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner aim to train leaders to use a hybrid of both The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and StrengthsFinder.

To accomplish this, they encourage their readers to develop their “practices of leadership.” They advise leaders to lead by example, develop a core vision everyone can work toward and inspire members to think creatively to solve problems.

Part of this process includes a StrengthsFinder-style quiz called the Leadership Practices Inventory, which helps assess a leader’s strengths, weaknesses and efficiencies.

Kouzes and Posner also urge leaders to build a system of confidence in their subordinates that lets them come into their own without micro-managing them.

The leadership gurus believe that high quality leaders must be taught to lead with humility and honesty, rather than rely solely on natural talents.

Wrapping It Up: How These Books Can Transform Your Team

In short, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, StrengthsFinder and The Leadership Challenge all seek to answer the question of how to minimize dysfunction in the workplace, improve productivity and morale.

At the same time, they probe what makes an efficient, respectable leader who is willing to think outside the box to better his employees and company without compromising their convictions.

Personal development and work culture go hand in hand. As summer comes to an end, take stock of where you have been and where you need to go as a company.

This introspection will help your company or workforce better manage the day-to-day stress as well as encourage all team members to strive to better themselves, no matter what weaknesses or talents they exhibit.

It’s a question that has the power to captivate just about anybody, whether it be a small business leader, an up-and-coming employee or an Olympic athlete.

Thankfully, we live in a time where information abounds. Small- and big-business leaders are generous with their time, in many cases, and are willing to talk with major publications, blogs and websites to share their story.

We found that while many success stories are inspiring in a rock-star kind of way, there tend to be some pretty serious lessons that underpin all the glamour of big paydays and huge buyouts.

These lessons are like the pumps, belts and tubes under the hood of a car. They don’t look particularly cool and you rarely see them, but they’re what make the vehicle go.

This month we sifted through numerous articles and posts to dig up some of these lessons.

Lesson #1: Big Decisions Require Patience, Not Haste

Growth is huge for startups. Investors want to know how many clients or downloads you have. Reporters want to know how much capital you raised in your last round. Customers want to see social media hype.

When growth is the focus, patience tends to take a back seat to innovation and release deadlines. However, when it comes to the big decisions, don’t be afraid to take a day or two to ponder decisions you don’t feel comfortable making.

“Making important decisions – a defining responsibility of any leader – sometimes requires patience,” he said in a 2015 interview with Fast Company. “If I’m not comfortable with a big decision, I wait a day or two.”

During that time, he said, he gives the decision “the gift of time.” He doesn’t use the extra days to do more research, collect and analyze data or review the positives and negatives of the decision.

“Often, with a little time and patience, the decision will manifest itself clearly,” he said.

Lesson #2: Trust Your Team

When you’re used to running the show – having all the answers, solving all the problems, etc. – your initial instinct is not to let your team work out the issues your product or campaign is facing.

That philosophy may work in specific situations, but if you’re the source of all solutions and answers, you’ll quickly find that your power is limited. But having limitations isn’t a bad thing, said Yee Lee, a startup guru whose recent projects include lending startup Vouch.

His words offer a sharp sting to those of us who’ve become self-reliant.

“It is much harder, but more empowering for your team, to hold your tongue on your own ideas and keep asking questions until your team comes up with the answers themselves,” he said.

Part of trusting your team is making sure you hire trustworthy people. In a 2015 article for Business Insider, contributor Jayson DeMers talked about trustworthiness.

“The first step is to hire trustworthy people – people who are honest, open and self-motivated enough to work for the good of the company,” he said. “But beyond that, it’s your responsibility to create a culture and an atmosphere that encourages both honesty and co-dependence.”

It’s normal for us to struggle with this concept of co-dependence and honesty, but if our manager-employee interactions are viewed in the context of relationship, then “honesty” and “co-dependence” begin to make a lot of sense.

And, as many a wizened platitude attest, relationships are pretty difficult to maintain without trust.

Lesson #3: Keep Calm and Carry On

There’s a scene in the NBC classic The Office where fomenter Dwight Schrute throws a cigarette in a trash can full of paper and lighter fluid in order to test the office’s ability to respond to a fire.

Michael Scott, the hapless boss, responds by saying, “Everybody stay calm.” He repeats the phrase once more, then his tone changes and he screams, “Everybody stay the (bleep) calm!”

A few months ago we talked about the differences between a more traditional office environment and the open spaces emphasized in today’s startup world.

At the end of that post, we made this observation:

“Different things work for different people. This is why the debate about whether Open Office Plans Vs. Cubicles, Which is Better?, will continue to rage on in the office world and studies will continue to show conflicting data on the subject.”

As you can see, we don’t really take sides in this debate; it’s all about what works best for your team and your vision. This is one reason why our Gallery is full of different styles of dividers, extenders and partitions that provide the stylistic and functional touches to work in just about any office.

We want to take a closer look at some of those items today to help you understand what’s possible in the space you’re designing. Choosing the right combination of products can complement the environment you want to create in your workspace and meeting rooms.

Our Gallery features four different types of panels: cubicle panel extenders, desk-mounted privacy panels, split-screen panels and desk-mounted modest panels. Today we’re going to tackle two of these categories.

Cubicle Panel Extenders

One of the things we like to emphasize is that panels reduce noise and distractions, giving employees added privacy. The end result is employees are more productive. And we all know productivity boosts morale.

Our panel extenders are a good option for offices looking to add a little extra privacy to their cubicles without the hassle of having to redo the walls on every single desk. As the name indicates, these panels are extensions to existing partitions between desks.

Adding them to each workstation is a simple task and the end result is well worth it.

But the idea of adding extra privacy to each workspace in your office may seem a little draconian to some workers who prefer a more relational and open work environment. We get that, because we’ve learned companies are living organisms that change and adapt as time and generations come and go.

So, part of our product line includes clear extenders that do an effective job of creating privacy and sound reduction while at the same time maintaining an open workplace. We think this is a great choice for companies that want to create a sense of open space while simultaneously protecting the privacy and production of their employees.

If your workforce tends to be more old-school, we’ve got plenty of solid extenders that augment the autonomy of individual workspaces. If you want a middle ground between clear and solid, our opaque extenders are an excellent choice, too.

Desk Mounted Extenders

The purpose of extenders remains the same here – to reduce sound and increase privacy. But what you’ll notice in our Gallery is that our desk extenders provide all kinds of options for open and closed office areas.

What you’ll notice is that these extenders attach directly to your desks rather than to existing partitions. This is a key distinction, because as the photos in our Gallery show, desk extenders give you a lot more open space under the desk.

This setup creates a sense of unity and interconnectedness in your office, factors that are important to employees who value an open workspace.

Desk-mounted extenders also give you two options for your desks: side mounts and rear mounts. Take a look at the photos on the left to get a sense of what we mean.

On the one hand, you’ve got desks lined up front to back, so rear-mounted extenders provide the privacy you’re looking for.

On the other hand, you can choose side-mounted extenders for desks that are lined up side-by-side. As you can see, our extenders aren’t meant to isolate but to integrate a series of side-by-side desks.

In our own research of burgeoning office trends, we’ve found that this type of setup is great for companies who have small, tight-knit departments. Employees have their own defined space, but the extenders are low enough to where they can easily collaborate with team members next to them.

Deciding Which Option is Best for Your Office

Which extender is right for you depends on your particular situation. Head over to our Contact Us page and let us know what your plans are for the future and how your furniture and extenders play a role in that. In the meantime, stop by our Gallery to get a sense of what your office could look like with our help!

For the longest time, employee incentive programs, cash bonuses, raises and promotions were the ways that management motivated their employees to work hard and produce results. They’re still a popular method of lighting a fire within their employees.

However, as Dan Pink points out, the modern worker isn’t the same as his or her counterpart from decades past; something deeper is going on. Because of this, Pink believes that employers should start looking differently at motivation, going beyond tangible rewards and unearthing the power of themes like autonomy, passion and value.

We often think that “creative genius” is, first, not us; but we also go on to think of the typical brilliant artist as a transcendent person who has this amazing level of perspective in whatever they do. They are, we think, exactly what it means to be a genius.

Isn’t it interesting, though, that we see many of these outstanding artists lead tormented lives? Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, explores the notion of the tormented artist and gets us thinking about genius not as an entity in us, but as an identity in us with whom we dialogue, wrestle and converse.

It’s a heady concept, but for writers, designers and other art-related fields, it’s an enlightening concept that can cut down on our creative angst.

We always hear the phrase tossed around more as a punch line than anything else. And since our smartphones are always within reach, it really is difficult to disconnect from what’s happening in the office.

But, as you probably know from your own experience, the more your work takes over your home life, the less like “home” your house or apartment actually feels. And that’s where Nigel Marsh comes in.

This is one of the first things he says during his brief, 10-minute presentation:

“The trouble is, so many people talk so much rubbish about work-life balance,” he said. “All the discussions about flexi-time or dress-down Fridays or paternity leave only serve to mask the core issue, which is that certain job and career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged on a day-to-day basis with a young family.”

If you’ve been longing for some balance in your life, this talk by Marsh may be the ticket to the equilibrium you’ve been seeking.

Every manager’s dream is to have an office that runs like a well-oiled machine.

But offices have changed over the past decade, haven’t they? While in-house teams still exist and are the core of most businesses, more and more organizations are hiring freelancers to handle a significant share of the workload.

On top of that, certain positions like programming allow employees to work from home part of the time. Where does that leave the average office these days? In the middle of an organizational mess, if they aren’t deliberate about keeping communication clear and fluid.

Thankfully, startups and established companies have recognized this need. The app market is teeming with organizational apps that, as the old saying goes, put everyone on the same page.

Basecamp

Basecamp is one of the original productivity software companies. They’ve been in business for 12 years and, according to their website, they’ve had more than 100,000 companies sign up for their services. They claim to provide the world’s best project management software, which makes sense considering how long they’ve been in business.

Their platform is available through a web browser and as an Android or Apple app. Currently, Basecamp’s Android app gets 3.9 stars from 401 reviews in the Google Play store.

Some of the most recent reviews of the app highlight how Basecamp is fluid and simple. One commenter said, “My team uses it every day to manage all kinds of projects.”

“The service remains simple to use and quick to set up, but it’s not nearly as robust as other online project management solutions,” PC Mag wrote, giving Basecamp 3 (the most current version) a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

Design-wise, Basecamp falls a little short. Their tan color scheme is a little outdated, but it’s a reflection of the basic nature of the software: straightforward, easy-to-use and popular with a wide variety of companies.

Basecamp fees: $29 per month for your in-house team, $79 per month to work with clients, $3,000 per year for a 2TB enterprise solution. There is also a free version.

Asana

If Basecamp is the bare-bones version of project management focused on substance over style, Asana is the sleeker, sexier counterpart in the project management narrative. Asana was founded in 2008 and officially launched in 2011 by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.

One reviewer pointed out the design side of Asana, saying, “I love the UI of this app, such a pleasure to the eyes.”

Our experience with Asana is in line with that reviewer’s sentiments. Visually, it’s light years ahead of basecamp. The platform’s browser app achieves a clean look by hiding specific details about a project until you click on that project. In this sense, Asana feels a little more orderly than Basecamp, where there are checklists galore that result in a somewhat busy screen.

According to the review, Asana boasts “a thoughtful and attractive design, fluid interactive elements, and generous team-member allotment in its free version.”

These features put it “among the most powerful productivity apps on the market.”

Asana fees: Free for up to 15 users on one team or $8.33 per member per month for unlimited use of features by an unlimited number of people.

Slack

Slack is the newcomer to the big three of project management apps with an August 2013 release. Their claim to fame? The team that manages the Mars Curiosity Rover is one of their clients.

Slack employs browser and app functionality just like Asana and Basecamp. One of the great features about the platform is that it integrates Google Drive and Dropbox, two of the most popular cloud storage services on the market. These integrations are native, unlike Basecamp, where you have to install a plugin in order to sync with Google Drive.

Reviewers on Slack’s Google Play page gave the project management tool 4.4 stars, with one reviewer noting how easy it is to share files through Google docs, to switch between team members during communication and to share emojis.

We believe that Slack got a lower score than Asana because it’s more difficult to learn than its two counterparts. Reviewers on Google Play and the PC Mag reviewer noted that the platform isn’t very intuitive.

“Make no mistake, Slack takes some learning, with an adjustment period of hours if you’re lucky, or in my case, a few weeks,” reviewer Jill Duffy wrote.

And there’s one more thing: Slack is ideal as a way to communicate with your teammates (it has streams and messaging kind of like Facebook) but it doesn’t have the project-management capabilities of an Asana or Basecamp.

As Duffy wrote, if you think your current project management system provides sufficient communication tools, you probably don’t need Slack.

Our impressions? Slack is the newest app in the growing world of project management and project communication tools. Don’t mistake it as a pure management platform; consider it a powerful communication platform with tremendous tools for refining and organization the information you see about your project team.

Slack Fees: Free, $8 for their Standard package and $15 per month for their Plus package. An enterprise solution will be available later this year.

Wrapping It Up: An Overview

If you’re looking for a time-tested product used by millions of people, then Basecamp is probably the best fit for you. They’ve been in business for 12 years, have a long list of plug-ins you can use to enhance your project management tools and their interface is simple.

However, if Basecamp’s bland design isn’t quite your style, Asana is an excellent option. Though it doesn’t have the same size customer base and is considerably newer than Basecamp, it has received high marks for ease-of-use and clean design.

However, let’s say you’re set on the project management side but you’re looking for a tool that can keep communication between team members focused, streamlined and fun. If that describes your situation, Slack is a great tool.

Hopefully, you’re sitting in the kind of office chair that allows you to do that. If not, then you’re going to like the suggestions we’ve gathered for you.

You see, office chairs have a rich history in the United States and abroad. Some say the ancient Egyptians invented it, while others point to the 19th century. Either way, I think we can all agree that your chair is what dictates your level of comfortability.

We’ve all sat in one of those rickety old “chairs” that can tie our back muscles into nasty little knots. And hopefully we’ve all felt the relief when we finally sit in a solid, well-constructed chair that supports our alignment and keeps us happy for eight hours (or more) a day.

Which chair is right for you? Only you can decide that, but we’ve put together a few suggestions we think you’ll enjoy.

Herman Miller Aeron: The King of the Workplace Castle

The good news? The Aeron occasionally goes on sale on Amazon. In fact, right now it’s 15 percent off. The bad news? The sale price is $798.15 (it’s regularly $939).

There’s a reason why this chair is so expensive: It’s arguably the best office chair on the market… ever. The Aeron was originally designed by two ergonomic geniuses, Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf. Herman Miller loved the chair and it soon became a favorite among discerning customers.

Aeron is everything an office chair should be: stylish, unique and an absolute champion of good posture. Take a moment to watch this promotional video. You’ll get a pretty good idea of the mechanics and design behind this treasure:

Sitting in this beauty of a throne all day doesn’t seem so bad, does it? If your bottom line can bear it, you might want to invest in the Aeron. The chair, according to Omincore, comes in three different sizes: A, B and C.

Sayl Away with Me: The Herman Miller Sayl

If you can’t pony up nearly $1,000 for the Aeron, consider the ever-modern Sayl. This chair, according to Herman Miller, contains the most complex part the company has ever created.

“Most chairs tend to be overwhelming,” designer Yves Behar said in the video below. “Everything was done for (the Sayl) to be really simple.”

You know the chair is going to be good when the designer says the back support is the most complex part ever created in the 80-year history of the company.

“The Sayl earns its reputation as one of the most beautiful office chairs in Herman Miller’s stable,” Smart Furniture wrote.

Word to the wise: This chair is better used as a conference-room piece. Task chair it is not, Smart Furniture says.

A Modest Choice: The Office Star Air Grid

This suggestion comes from the reviewers at Gear Patrol. The Air Grid is workmanlike in its design. It’s not flashy and it’s not fancy. It’s a simple, efficient piece of furniture.

But don’t take Gear Patrol’s word for it, or even ours. Head to the chair’s Amazon page, where 952 people have given the Air Grid 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Like the Sayl, this chair has a breathable back that provides enough support to keep you feeling cool and strong as you slave away at your keyboard. Here’s a video of the product:

While the Air Grid doesn’t give you that same legendary feeling that you’ll get from the Herman Millers we mentioned above, it does its job well. And for $144, it’s a steal for the level of quality it offers.

Staring into the bright abyss of an old monitor isn’t what we’d call a workplace perk.

Dead pixels and terrible resolution can make your 8-hour workdays seem like never-ending eye torture. Hopefully, your employer is wise enough to refresh your monitors with a new batch of easy-on-the-eyes screens. If they don’t, or if you’re in charge of procuring a new fleet of monitors, you’ll want to select a product that offers great value and solid resolution.

We took a few minutes to search through some recent articles to find the best monitors, cross-referencing them on Amazon. their highest-rated items to provide you a list of four monitors that would be a great fit for the day-in, day-out work you do in front of the screen.

We selected each of these monitors because of their price, reputation, size and functionality.

The LG 29UM67 29-Inch LED Ultrawide

In case you haven’t heard, ultrawide monitors are becoming a thing. Many companies like them because they provide a wide viewing surface without the hassle of buying multiple monitors. If you’re a design firm, publishing house or heavy into pagination, these screens will increase your productivity (not to mention the number of smiles per capita in the workplace).

If you want to get a sense of how ultrawide monitors can help you and for whom they fit best, check out this 2015 video from LifeHacker:

The LG 29” Ultrawide (2560x1080p) is relatively affordable at $330, ranking on the low end of the price spectrum. For a sense of scale, the next model up, the LG 34UM67, is currently selling on Amazon for $499.

You can consider this monitor the budget option for people who want decent screen size without the massive surface area of an ultrawide. Acer’s monitors are price-friendly workhorses with a great reputation.

You can snag this tried-and-true monitor on Amazon for $109.99. However, you’ll need to keep a few caveats in mind. First, the monitor doesn’t have any HDMI ports, so your computers will need DVI or VGA, or, at least, DVI/VGA adapters that will pair with your monitor. Also, this G-Series Acer doesn’t have screw holes to mount on a wall or partition.

As for customer reviews, the G236 is reaching hall-of-fame status. Nearly 4,000 people have reviewed it, amounting to 4.3 stars. More than 80 percent of those reviews are four or five stars, while just 10 percent are one or two stars.

Coincidentally, several of the more recent comments show people who’ve purchased multiple monitors to get an ultrawide effect.

Considering how much a new ultrawide costs, you may want to stick with the LG we mentioned rather than linking two or three Acers. But, of course, that’s entirely up to you.

This recommendation comes to us by way of PC Mag’s 10 Best Business Monitors of 2016 list. We think it’s an interesting choice because its appeal has very little do with how it looks (quite stodgy and uninspiring, if you ask us), but because it’s an excellent solution for IT departments who’ve deployed Lenovo’s Tiny-In-One.

“The ThinkVision Tiny-In-One makes it easy for IT personnel to deploy an upgrade for one … or many clients without having to tear apart the entire system,” PC Mag’s review reads.

Think of this solution as Lenovo-centric, as it’s very easy to plug a Lenovo desktop into this screen. No tools are necessary.

Torn between getting double-barreled screens or an ultrawide? This unique Phillips monitor wants you to know that you don’t have to worry any longer. You can get both options in one.

PC Mag noted this monitor has great style (which it does) but some annoying drawbacks. For instance, the highest resolution is 1280×1024.

Users will appreciate how you can adjust each monitor individually, as well as the plentiful options for connectivity (HDMI-HML, VGA, Display Port, USB 2.0).

The dual-screen Philips sells for $425.92 on Amazon. Reviews are few and slightly above average – 3.7 stars is the current rating. If you’re looking for dual-screen capability, we suggest going with the Acer monitor mentioned first in this list.

The Final Pixel: Fit Your Monitor to Your Needs

Don’t try to force yourself to like a monitor you don’t love. Since you’ll be using it for dozens of hours a week, it’s important to select something that meets your criteria.

The same principle goes for your office furniture and organization. We can help you select the perfect solution for your needs. Contact us today to find out more about what we offer.

Say what you want about the importance of choosing the right office furniture for your company. Even the best chairs and desks can’t curb the effects of bad relationships.

Employees can tolerate Spartan office accommodations, but bad blood and conflict between colleagues are stressors that can push people away from their work. And it’s not just bad relationships. Gossip perpetuates the pain, distance or frustration an employee may be experiencing.

Here’s the good news: Bad relationships don’t have to remain that way. We’ve compiled a list of four tips to help you improve your workplace relationships. These tried-and-true bits of wisdom are a solid foundation for boosting morale. We are, after all, relational beings, right?

A little courtesy goes a long way

For most of us, office relationships are mostly limited to a quick “hello.” Even if we ask “How’s it going?” we don’t’ really expect a genuine response. We expect a reply like “Good, you?”

We’re not saying you need to become the nonstop chit-chatter of the office; nobody likes the person who can’t keep quiet. But we are suggesting, as Tech Republic writer Scott Matteson said in a 2013 article, that you should make an effort to connect with your coworkers.

“Make eye contact and refer to people by name,” Matteson wrote. “This is the oil that keeps the engine of cooperation running smoothly.”

As you know, courtesy is more than just polite conversation and eye contact. One place where a courteous gesture is often lacking is the coffee pot. Either the pot is empty or half-full of stale coffee. And if it’s not one of those two, the pot itself is coated in residue from dozens of brew cycles.

A simple refill or pot cleaning benefits your coffee cravings, but it’s also a nice gesture for your colleagues.

Share the glory

We all hope our bosses see our hard work and reward it; nothing wrong with that. But when we start taking credit for team efforts, our relationships can sour quicker than you can imagine.

Doing so gets at the heart of what most of us want from others: appreciation. We’ve all been in those positions where we work extra hours, solve problems under our own initiative and produce work that’s above and beyond what was expected of us.

In this situation, the last thing you want is a supervisor or team leader taking all the credit. When that happens, your work is cheapened and disrespected.

So, when you have a chance to elevate the work of your colleagues rather than cheapen it, take advantage of the opportunity.

As Kelly Services wrote in a recent article about coworker interactions, “it’s fair to share credit with others who’ve worked on a project with you or who assist you in other ways. Plus, when people feel respected, it helps create better working relationships in the future.”

Focus on clear communication

Have you ever been in one of those meetings where the person leading seems totally unprepared, and what was supposed to be an on-point, 10-minute briefing turns into a 30-minute whirlwind of rabbit trails and wandering thoughts?

Like most people, you probably hated the fact you were wasting time in a meeting rather than working on projects at your desk. Here’s the question: How would you make the meeting go faster?

Our guess is that you’d be more prepared and definitely more focused. And you’re right.

Kelly Services highlights this when they talked about communication in a recent post.

“If you’re going to a meeting or have to give a presentation,” they said. “Note your points and arguments ahead of time and review them shortly before the event.”

Also, think about who you’re talking to when you lead a meeting or have a one-on-one. Personality types (introvert/extrovert) as well as if they’re creative or analytical should influence how you craft what you’re going to say.

Knowing when not to talk shop

As employers look for new ways to build a better team mentality and morale, encouraging employees to mingle outside of work has become more popular.

Company-sponsored events at a pre-determined location or a spontaneous happy hour get-together are two ways employees can build stronger relationships.

The catch here is that it’s pretty tough not to talk about work when you’re hanging out with people from work. But if relationships need to get stronger, complaining about new policies or bad bosses during happy hour isn’t really going to cut it.

Getting around this is as simple as barring work talk from an event. But be savvy here – you don’t want to act like a dictator trying to quash complaints and criticism. You want to create an environment where team members can express their personality in a way that reveals more of who they are outside of work.

Forbes contributor Nicole Liloia put it this way: “Making friends with your co-workers and spending time with them outside of work can also lead to better relationships in the workplace.”

What comes to your mind when you think about the color of an average office?

White? Grey? Maybe the occasional taupe?

It’s not out of the ordinary for traditional offices to feature drab colors on the walls and carpet. The modern movement for open workspaces tend to feature vibrant colors. It’s easy to assume that today’s offices – their reds, greens and blues – are more conducive to productivity, but is that just a feeling or is it science?

We wanted to get the bottom of the question of office color, so we sifted through a few articles and research to come up with a definitive answer. Over the next few minutes, we’ll talk about a study from the University of Texas that offer pretty convincing data about how colors can boost or burden your employees.

The Basics of Color: Why Blue is Different than Orange

Color is a matter of wavelengths. “Wave” should be a familiar term…radio waves, microwaves are just two examples. “Ray” is also a popular word for waves – gamma rays and x-rays fall into this category.

The rays have shorter wavelengths. Think of them like waves in the ocean. Shorter wavelengths are like waves moving toward the beach rapidly with just a few seconds between them. Longer wavelengths are like waves coming to the beach I slow intervals, like maybe one wave every 15 seconds.

Now, let’s bring this around to specific colors. Violet and blue have shorter wavelengths than red and orange, and, for some reason, have a completely different effect on our minds.

You might think that these kinds of studies happen all the time, but up until 2004, they weren’t that common. Here’s what the introduction to the study said: “The importance of environmental effects on employees’ productivity and morale has been suggested, yet very little experimental research on the long-term effects of interior color on workers’ productivity in the office environment has been reported.”

So, to get to the bottom of the color conundrum, they painted one office white, one mostly red and one mostly blue green.

They split the employees into three groups based on how well they could block out distraction. To measure their performance, they had employees check lists of zip codes for errors and perform typing tasks each day for four days.

At the end of the study, they found some interesting things:

Red room: People who could block out distractions (“high screeners”) got increasingly better at their jobs as compared to those who had a hard time blocking out distractions (“low screeners”).

White room: Results were very similar to the ones observed in the red room

Blue-green room: Everyone performed the same, with those who were only mildly distracted (“moderate screeners”) scoring slightly better than their counterparts.

Make sense? We’ll put it another way. The blue-green room seemed to have a calming effect on everyone, no matter how high or low their tolerance was for distractions.

The red room seemed to have a negative effect on workers who were easily distracted, but not so much or employees who can block out distractions while they work.

The white room had a pretty strong effect on the low and moderate screeners – they made significantly more mistakes in checking zip codes or errors than high screeners.

What Does All This Mean for My Office?

Let’s begin by saying we’re not suggesting you have to hire a contractor to come in and repaint your walls a soothing blue-green. However, science says that might not be a bad idea.

They also give high praise for green, which isn’t a surprise in the context of the study we just looked at.

“Green is a good color for people who work long hours,” they said. “It does not cause fatigue and helps you remain calm and efficient at the same time.”

Red, as you probably guessed, isn’t the best fit for an environment where you’re sitting for long hours. However, “if your job or task involves physical activity” red is a great color because it has been shown to “increase the heart rate, blood flow and also invokes emotion and passion.”

Have you recently changed your office color or worked in an environment where the color seemed to affect employee performance? Tell us about it in the comments section below.